1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus, and more particularly to a page counting device which indicates the service life of parts and components that receive wear and tear because of printing operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrophotographic recording apparatus usually comprises a photosensitive element drum, a fixing roller, a transport belt, and other consumable parts. When these parts become worn out, they are replaced with new parts. The service life of these parts is previously determined as the number of prints that can be printed during the life of these parts. The number of prints is hereinafter called the "total lifetime prints". This number is compared with the number of prints that have been printed since the last part replacement (hereinafter called the "number of post-replacement prints") to indicate the remaining lifetime of the parts.
According to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 62-36217, the number of lifetime prints of each component is stored in a memory, the number of post-replacement prints of each component is counted each time a print is made and is compared with the respective number of lifetime prints and the name of each part whose number of prints coincides with that in the memory is indicated to show when a part's life has ended.
In the prior art electrophotographic recording apparatus, the time of required replacement is known when a component breaks down, but at any given time it is not clear how much longer a component can be used. In addition thereto, the number of post-replacement prints of each component is counted up every printing which thereby increases the writing cycle of the number into the memory. Therefore, the increase in the number of prints leads to a longer printing time.